With the recent story about the restoration and relighting of the neon sign for Billy Ray’s BBQ and Catfish in Tulsa, the local newspaper mentioned Tally’s Good Food Cafe also had received a grant for new neon on the Route 66 restaurant.
Intrigued, I contacted Dennis Whitaker, a planner for the Indian Nations Council of Governments and asked whether more detail was available for the new neon coming to Tally’s. The restaurant will receive the maximum $10,000 grant for a project that will cost $25,749 through the city’s Route 66 neon-sign grant program.
Whitaker sent several drawings of the Tally’s application. As you can see, it’s going to be architectural neon, along with neon Route 66 shield flourishes and lettering, on the sides that face Yale Avenue and 11th Street (aka Route 66).
The “Tally’s on” or “Tally’s Cafe on” red neon lettering will be backed by red aluminum with horizontal hot pink and orange neon accents. The Route 66 shields on both sides will be made of red and white neon.
Here’s another artist’s rendering of the proposal.
Below the existing big neon sign above the entrance will be another Route 66 shield, seen below, made of red, pink, orange, blue, green and white neon with the letters “Get Your Eats on Route 66.”
In addition to its big neon sign above the entrance, Tally’s also will keep the red neon outlining the restaurant’s roofline.
Here’s an image of Tally’s looks like now.
Stay tuned; Whitaker said he’ll send more information about the other coming Route 66 signs in Tulsa as soon as their applications are approved. Here are the other applicants for the neon grants:
- Bobby O’s Slices & Pies, 1502 E. 11th St.
- Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on 66, 1347 E. 11th St.
- Cities Service, West 17th and Southwest Boulevard
- Flo’s Burger Diner, 2604 E. 11th St.
- Interparts of Tulsa, 3615 E. 11th St.
- Renaissance Brewing Company, 1147 S. Lewis Ave.
- U.S. Studio 66, 5202 E. 11th St.
(Artist’s renderings of new neon coming to Tally’s Good Food Cafe in Tulsa courtesy of Dennis Whitaker; a nighttime image of Tally’s by Sam Paradise via Flickr)